Auld Acquaintance

I have a friend who thinks New Year's Eve is for amateurs. He always stays home and when he lived in Manila, Philippines, he said all the people ran thru the streets shooting off carbines. I never liked to go out on that evening either but I do like to watch the "BALL" come down in Times Square, New York City. Before there was Anderson Cooper and his potty-mouthed partner, and before there was an ever youthful Dick Clark, there was an erudite commentator named Ben Grauer who was a famous NBC announcer who worked the countdown alone wearing a black overcoat and a black Homburg hat, and never at a loss for words. He called eleven "Eves" between 1951 and 1969 and was a fixture at the time as was Guy Lombardo playing the Roosevelt Grill and later the Waldorf Astoria. Somehow the current crowd don't cut it for me. For Auld Lang Syne, my friends. Happy New Year.
tjs

Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympics will be held in Sochi, Russia in the Black Sea area in February 2014. The Olympic Torch is currently on its 40,000 mile journey that has taken it to outer space and to the North Pole on its circuitous trip. Sarah Lyall's article in the NY Times is worth reading as she describes this incredible undertaking.
tjs
(Blog will be silent over the Christmas Holidays resuming in the New Year)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/sports/olympics/got-a-light-olympic-torch-relay-seems-cursed-to-the-ends-of-the-earth.html?ref=sports&_r=0

Stowaways II

After WWII USLines inherited many foreign born captains from the Allied pool. One such was a Brit who wore a black beret when ashore.
His nickname was Limey and he was in command of a conventional freighter on the Australian run which could run to three months round trip and as such could attract a motley crew. It seems that several days out of Brisbane northbound headed to U.S. East Coast via Panama, he discovered two stowaways and did not wish to carry these individuals all the way to New York. A sister ship sailing southbound towards Brisbane was a rendezvous opportunity and Limey asked her master to take these blokes back to Australia but his request was declined. Being still in South Pacific waters Captain Limey made a sight deviation to the Pitcairn Island area (Fletcher Christian's bailiwick), lowered a life boat, put the stowaways in it with crew and instructed crew to put them ashore with water and gave the engineer a handgun to enforce if necessary. When he arrived in New York the crew reported him and his answer was "They were British subjects and I landed them on a British island. Case closed." Those were the days.
tjs
(Above excerpted from Eagle Blue No. 25 - April 10, 2006)

DCC

The Googler reminds me that this is post number 700 or DCC in Super Speak. I always wondered how the Romans added up their grocery bill. We have had three snow storms already and the Winter Solstice is still several days away when the pagans will do their dance to welcome the sun moving north again. And I left Florida for this! But we are looking forward to Christmas with family and loved ones. Hope you are too.
tjs

The Final Voyage

I recently received a survey from a local funeral parlor who had handled several burials of relatives. They were very considerate to not have called on the phone. Some of the questions were straightforward: age, sex, marital status and did I have a burial plot.  Then they asked how much I expected to pay for a burial. I paused - as Jack Benny would - then I threw a number at them -  approximately fifteen grand plus the cost of the after party. They asked if any special wishes. I said you can dispense with the bagpiper as that eerie tone would wake up the dead. And lay on your best embalmer to eliminate the wrinkles - and certainly no two day Irish wake. Lastly, they are sending me a kit and I can't wait to see its contents. Back in the real world, a friend of mine had the misfortune to die in New Jersey in the middle of storm Sandy just before Halloween 2012. They couldn't get a burial permit and after several days the family had him cremated - which was not his wish. Timing is everything.
tjs

The Abscam Scandal

In the rush up with the end of year drum beat for motion picture awards, one that caught my eye was titled "American Hustle". They are touting it as a comedy in full page ads in the NY Times with the comment "some of this actually happened." It certainly did back in 1978 when the F.B.I. set up a sting to ferret out corruption and bribery but there was nothing intentionally comedic about it then. A U.S. Senator, several members of congress and city of Philadelphia councilmen, all served jail time and a young congressman from South Philadelphia was expelled from the body. It was said he had a flippant motto "Money talks and BS walks."  But he came from a nice family - I knew his father. As Tip ONeill said "All politics is/are local." The film review for this "comedy" indicates an "R" rating for "corrupt politicians".
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/13/movies/american-hustle-with-christian-bale-and-amy-adams.html?ref=arts

Stowaways

A maritime newsletter reminds us that the problem of stowaways is still with us. Many years ago a U.S. Lines conventional cargo vessel departed from a European port destined New York. Unbeknownst to the master or crew, there were several stowaways on board. Several days out to sea our vessel was called upon to assist another ship in distress and stood by and eventually took survivors aboard, turned around and returned to port.  The stowaways figuring the number of days that had elapsed, thought they were in New York and left their hiding place and stole ashore where they were apprehended by the German waterfront police. What a surprise! And what a nuisance for the Captain.
tjs
More on this subject at a later time.

Moby Dick

Something I did not know. Herman Melville wrote his famous novel MOBY DICK in 1851 but apparently he could not make a living as an author so in 1866 he became a Customs Inspector in the Port of New York stationed along West Street near what is now the meat packing district. He covered the Hudson (North) River all the way up to Harlem inspecting cargoes and ships. His pay was $4.00 per day. This is the area that eighty years later was the focus of U.S. Lines cargo operations (B.C.) before containers - from West 19th Street up to West 22nd Street which is known as Chelsea. Pier 59 at 19th Street handled all the scotch whiskey from Glasgow and you could smell it from blocks away. The movie "On the Waterfront" was filmed in Hoboken N.J. but the cargo handling was the same as found on the Manhattan side of the river.
tjs

Apostleship of the Sea

The Apostleship of the Sea ministers to the spiritual needs of seamen in the various ports around the world. A colleague of mine belongs to the New Orleans chapter where the priest assigned there occasionally signs on as an "able bodied" seaman (A.B.) to sail with the merchant mariners on their current voyage. Some years ago I belonged to the chapter in the Port of Philadelphia where the chaplain assigned was a blue collar type from the Pennsylvania coal regions. He was assigned to a waterfront parish where he could also minister to longshoremen and waterfront workers. One snowy night his phone rang at 3AM - a young man in his parish called to say his father had died while sitting in his favorite chair and could the padre come to administer the last rites. The priest asked if the young man had notified the funeral director. The lad said he was going to wait until daylight to call him. Raising his voice, the priest directed him to call the undertaker immediately - OR  - they would have to break your father in half with a sledge hammer. Yes, rigor mortis does set in. And so, these men of cloth perform their duties on sea and land.
tjs

The End of an Era

When I lived in New York some years ago we often listened to John B. Gambling's radio show on WOR-AM 710 which he started in 1925 - he called it "Rambling With Gambling". Upon his retirement he passed the baton to son John A. and recently to third generation John R.  WOR way back was called the Bamberger Broadcasting Co. and I think they were then located in New Jersey. Now, after eighty-eight years, they will ramble no more - with the last show December 20th.  There was always a civil discussion and they regularly interviewed the mayor. The announcement said they were retiring the morning show voluntarily
but WOR also announced their preparation for the arrival of Rush Limbaugh for an afternoon time slot. Personally, if I were still living in New York I would prefer a ramble with Gambling to a gambol in the rushes. (IMHO)
tjs
(Note - WOR was founded by The Bamberger Broadcasting Service in 1922  headquartered in Newark NJ the purpose was to sell more radios.)

A Marriage of Convenience

I am indebted to my good friend Bill V. for the following: An eighty year old lady was being interviewed on the occasion of her fourth marriage - to a funeral director. When asked to describe her previous husbands she answered "In my twenties I married a banker - in my forties he was a circus ringmaster - and in my sixties it was a preacher."
The interviewer remarked on the unique differences in her choices. She paused, smiled, and said "Well, it was like this - one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready - and four to go."
tjs

Strange Bedfellows

During a slow Tuesday at the office, my cousin John thought he could squeeze in eighteen holes at the local club. He knew, being a "onesome" that the club pro or starter would have to match him with other players. Upon arrival he found that the only golfer waiting to play was an older fellow and the starter said "You are it - and off you go." For the first three holes the old chap held his own in silence. At the fourth John's drive strayed and landed behind a pine tree obstructing his line to the green. While he was pondering his options - boldness or prudence - the senior finally spoke up. He said "When I was your age I could clear that tree with a seven iron." John stared at him as he grabbed the seven from his bag. He hit the ball clean but it caught the top of the pine tree and fell into the rough. John was livid and turned on the old man - "I thought you said you cleared that tree with a seven." The old fellow replied 'Aye, Johnny, but when I was your age that tree was only six feet tall." To his credit John did not hurl his seven into the nearby pond.
tjs
(Forgive me if I have repeated this story - we seniors consider it a do-over or a Mulligan.)

Wine Tasting

When we sold our house in Florida last year we used the Prudential Realtor Group whose blue & white signs dot the countryside.  But we just heard from them that they had been bought out - lock, stock and barrel - by Berkshire Hathaway the flagship of Warren Buffet, the famous Oracle of Omaha. That foxy fellow didn't want just a "piece of the Rock" - he wanted the "whole Gibraltar".  The agent commented that "those blue and white signs will now change to Cabernet" - the color of the Berkshire Hathaway logo. Wow! I didn't know there was a wine connoisseur hiding out among the corn husks of Nebraska. BTW before the stock split in January 2010 it's share price was $3475.
tjs

Old News

While my back was turned over the Thanksgiving holidays, I missed the following items from the printed press:
-The National Institute of Health announced they would be sending 300 research chimpanzees into retirement sanctuaries at the tax payers expense. They would live in minimum groups of seven, have 1000 square feet per chimp, have access to outdoors and the opportunity to forage for food - most of which privileges I have except I don't like crowds. An activist was quoted "A chimpanzee should no more live in a lab than a human should live in a phone booth."

- The NY Times reported that a police helicopter crashed thru the roof of a Glasgow, Scotland pub on the eve of the St. Andrew's holiday and while the band was playing. Unfortunately, there were fatalities. This seemed to be a departure from normal protocol as during a raid the police usually came thru the front door.

-The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with their interest in Africa, have promoted a contest to build a better condom - "the next generation" There were 812 ideas submitted, whittled down to 11 winning designs and now move to the next round. The author of the article stated that "people were encouraged to erect a better condom."
http://www.triplepundit.com/2013/11/gates-foundation-building-better-condoms/
tjs